Hi,

today we spent the hour correcting some exercises and trying to understand better how grammar worked in English. I hope that this will have helped you understand some mechanism more clearly.

As for next class, we will finish studying the text from the A-Levels that took place in Pondichery very recently.

For next time, please read the assignment again and get ready to talk about what you understood from the text and what is still unclear.

You can download a copy of the text and questions here.

I was at school today for you but nobody showed up... did you all suddenly suffer from a very nasty disease like the plague for you not to come or is there something I should have known and I didn't...

If that's the case, it's really not nice of you not have have warned me...

Mr Hattais

Hey,

today we first finished correcting the exercise (§5) about our text and then we began to study a new topic thanks to a subverted logo of BP.

Here is what we said about it:

The picture is the logo of the firm BP but the sunflower is withered. It may have burnt or the company may have lost its fame or reputation.
It also looks like a fire ball; it's the symbol of energy.

Then we continued the lesson with the analysis of an article about this natural disaster. You can read it here (yet to be uploaded).

Here is what we said about this article:

The document is an article from a website (thinkprogress.org). It is a controversial article about who is responsible for the oil spill in the gulf of Mexico that happened last year in May 2010. BP CEO was trying to shirk responsibility and accuse another company.

Finally, we watched a video (a spoof) about the subject. You can watch it here:

Here is what we said about the document:

The video was published more or less one month after the incident in the gulf of Mexico, near the shores of Louisiana. It intends to criticize the way BP handled the oil spill.

This spoof blames BP for ... + V-ing :

-Try(ing) to shirk responsibility
- Find(ing) useless solutions
- Waste(ing) time
- Minimise(ing) the problem
- Not listen(ing) to the victims
- Corrupt(ing) / buy(ing) off / bribe(ing) residents (so that they kept silent / they forgot about accident / they didn't protest again the company)
- Not want(ing) to pay for all the damage
- Kill(ing) animals and endanger(ing) the environment

HW: find information about what the situation is like now in the Gulf of Mexico and analyse the last comment at the end of the article and explain what the internet users criticize.

Hey,

today we first talked again about the two pictures illustrating your text and then we continued our study of the text: "A gun culture" to understand better the arguments of the journalist. Here is what we said to account for / justify how extensive the circulation of weapons is in the US: 

How can we account for the american gun culture?
There is a wide–spread circulation of weapons in the US.
The arms trade is not well-regulated.
The law allows to trade firearms as if they were nearly normal items.
Schools have decided to install metal detectors because they are scared of weapons since it’s normal to advertise a gun sale.
The journalist also states that the education of children has an important part: the media encourage using guns in movies or video games and some children might confuse reality and fiction.
They may take reality for a video game. There is an important influence of the screens on children.
Other values conveyed by guns = freedom, independence, protection, equality.

Finally, we worked on a pronunciation exercise of the letters /ea/. Here are the words we classified in 3 different categories:

Tea [i:] -> lead teacher feature reach beach
Head [e] -> deadly weapon health pleasant sweater jealous wealth
Near [iƏ] -> idea year dear

HW: learn you lesson and don't forget that you are going to take the vocabulary test next time.

Hey,

today after explaining you in French that you NEEDED to work more and more regularly, we continued the lesson about American gun culture. We corrected the commentary that you had to make for today about the picture with a father and his child.

Here is what we said about it:

The document is a photograph in black and white which puts emphasis on the contrasts. It deals with the impact of an unregulated arms trade in the world and more precisely in the US where a gun culture is wide-spread.
It aims at denouncing this circulation of weapons and also at making people react.
Indeed this picture is rather shocking at first sight because the logical rules are subverted:
A man is holding his daugther in his arms but at the same time he is holding the butt of the pistol in his other hand. It's as if he were pointing the gun at her / as though he were targeting her, even if his finger is not on the trigger and the safety clutch is on.

Additional vocabulary: 

a well-cut beard
(to) be well-combed
proud
aggressive
self-righteous
battle dress trousers
It's a matter of self-defence

HW: for next time, learn this commentary + make sure you read your text again entitled "Gun Culture" so that we can move on more quickly with it next time.

Files: download a copy of the picture here. (yet to be uploaded)

Hey,

today we watched and went deeper into the analysis of the spoof ad / parody by Amnesty International.

Good job to all of you and in particular to Djeisa who had learnt her lesson almost perfectly! You're like the presenters in the video!!! :) 

Here is what we said about the document:

Selling card:

- The weapon is an AK-47 assault rifle.
"It's a splendor"
"It's beautiful"
"It's the villains' favorite"
"It's a war veteran"
The female presenter says: "I might treat myself to one"

- It is practical because it is very easy to use: children can use it such as the child soldiers in Congo and Liberia.
But the class gives only 3 stars because it is heavy and it looks difficult to reload.

- It is efficient: we can see the damage done in the demo.

- There are no problems: You won't get into trouble if you buy one. You needn't worry.

- It's a good promotion. There is a package of one-year ammunition if you call fast (within the hour)

- The price is £474,99 : it looks cheap => it's below £500.

- You can pay by cash, dollars through an off-shore / illegal account or even diamonds.

At the beginning, 10000 units are for sale. But at the end 9237 were sold. So not a lot of guns are left. People were interested in this bargain.

Addtional vocabulary:
AK-47 =  a rifle

a weapon / a fire arm:

- an assault rifle
- a pistol
- a machine-gun

HW: you need to prepare a 5-minute oral presentation about the charity Amnesty International and to answer this question about the video:

- What forms / types of humour are used in the video? Select some of these, explain why and justify with an exemple from the document:

Irony / parody / play on words / stereotyping / slapstick humour / practical joke / inflicting pain / form versus content / exaggeration / absurdity or context inappropriateness ...

Hey,

today we first had Lucas speak about the text for 5 minutes and then we corrected his presentation. Here is the correction:

The audience wants her to sing her song.
She is a woman who fights against discrimination.
At the beginning, the audience is shy.
She is angry with white people.

Voc: (to) enslave

She/He: Sujet
Her/Him: Complément
Her/His: Adjectif possessif

Then we continued the lesson with a new document dealing with the evolution of Afro American music. Here is what we said about it:

First document: "Let my people go" 

The document is about the first form of Afro-American music:
- work songs
- Negro spirituals
- gospel songs 

When the blacks were enslaved, they were forbidden to communicate with each other. Drums were outlawed / forbidden, but singing was encouraged.
It was a benefit for both the owners / masters and the slaves. Singing made them work harder and faster while they were able to communicate and to endure their plight / hardships / ordeals.

Grammar: La voix passive - Construction, utilisation, traduction

Aux (Be) + p. passé
==> Lorsque que le sujet du verbe ne fait pas l'action du verbe alors on doit recourir à la structure passive.
==>Le sujet dans ces structures a souvent une position de victime.
==> Penser à la traduction par le "On..." (cf. texte)

Finally, we watched an extract from Man VS Wild in which you had to focus your attention on what you could hear and the feelings it conveyed. You can watch the document again below:

Here is what we said about it:

Water ==> You can hear "splash"
He is walking in the jungle, his feet are in water, the soil is wet / soaked.

Food==> He is eating -> sounds of his teeth
He is chewing food.
It sounds as if he were vomitting / he were throwing up / puking / barfing.

The document deals with a man who is lost in the wild and who needs to survive. He looks for food under the birch / the bark of trees and discovers a giant larva. He eats it raw and alive. It's absolutely disgusting. It sounds as if he were about to vomit. He chews the worm slowly. Even if he is an adventurer, he has problems to gulp it down/ swallow it down.

Additional vocabulary:

- pets ≠ wild animals
- bark / birch
- larva / worm
- raw
- (to) gulp / swallow something down

- "It's disgusting"
- "It's yuck"=> "yuck!"
- protein


Finally, we corrected the translation exercise you had to do for today. Here are the translated sentences:

1) During several years, defenceless black people were tracked, beaten to death, tortured, mutilated, and hanged. And yet, white people stayed unpunished.

2) In the Deep South, racism was deeply rooted and white opponents to segregation were even sometimes threatened and beaten up by the KKK.

3) Strange Fruit is the first protest song / committed song to denounce lynching parties.

4) Whenever / Each time Billie Holiday sang that song, it recalled her the unbearable story of her father's death.

HW: for next time, learn your lesson + answer this question: 

"Do you think that singers and stars should be committed and defend a cause?" (300 words). Devoir facultatif.

Files: download the document (Afro American music) here. (yet to be uploaded)

Hey,

today you had the visit of Michelle, our new language assistant. I hope it will be possible in the future to have her again so that she can teach you some stuff in English.

Then we continued the lesson, studying the text and in particular Billie Holiday's physical reactions when she sang the song Strange Fruit on stage. Here is what we said:

The "sensitive" singer:

Billie Holiday is a sensitive singer/ an emotional singer
l. 29 "it affects me so much I get sick" ==> physical reaction.

In the song, she refers to the five senses.

She can picture the scene of a necktie party.
It's so powerful that she can smell, taste... everything. It is as if the scene were real / she were / was witnessing the scene / it became true.

As if + preterit (modal) ==> comparaison irréelle.
as if/ as though

Voc:

to vomit / throw up / to puke
to faint

HW: for next time, you need to learn your lesson.